Rugrats
Rugrats is a NickToon on Nickelodeon and also aired on the defunct Nick Jr. block in 1995. It was the first Nicktoon. It aired from 11 August 1991 – 8 June 2004. Produced at Klasky Csupo, Inc. of Los Angeles, the show is about how babies talk and view life and perceive the events happening around them. Each character is personified with his or her own individual charm. 20th Century Fox considered to release The Rugrats Movie as the first Rugrats film in 1995, but passed on the script when transferred their distributor duties for Paramount Studios and the release date delayed to 20 November 1998. Characters The main story is babies with wild imaginations. The main characters are Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster, Phil and Lil DeVille, Dil Pickles, Kimi Finster, and Angelica Pickles. Episodes Opening titles Image:Rugrats-Title.jpg|2001–2004 Setting The series has a very vague setting. It has been shown that the Rugrats, as it is probably assumed, live in the United States, but the name of a specific city or state is never mentioned. The best guess as to which region of the country in which the series takes place is somewhere in the southwest, since the family has taken trips to both the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas (Nevada), and Stu once mentioned "driving through the desert" while returning home from a one-day trip. There have also been several scenes of desert or arid land around the area where the Rugrats live. It is also unclear what type of community the characters live in; it could be a small city or a suburb of a larger city. This ambiguity in the setting was probably done intentionally to help give the impression of seeing the world through the naive eyes of toddlers. One episode does however show they live somewhere in California due to the license plate shown on Grandpa's station wagon. Also in the episode Special Delivery, a post office has the state flag in front of it. In another episode in the first season, Didi is shown teaching at a high school in Yucaipa (California), an actual town about 70 miles east of Los Angeles (California). It does seem to snow in the wintertime, as in the episode where the babies play in the snow and pretend to go to the north pole. Brief History The show originally revolved around a group of toddlers. The toddlers are able to communicate with each other through baby speak, although viewers can understand them, because it is 'translated'. Often, they mispronounce words or use poor grammar and their speaking is full of . An example of this is using the word "poopetrator" instead of "perpetrator." The group is often reluctantly joined by Tommy's cousin, Angelica. At age three years old, Angelica is able to communicate and understand language from both the toddlers and the adults, which she often uses as an advantage when she wants to manipulate either party. She is usually very mean to the babies. Susie, who lives across the street from the Pickles, is also able to communicate on the same level as Angelica, though she isn't manipulative. As a result, Angelica and Susie often clash. In The Rugrats movie, a new character, Dil, was introduced. After The Rugrats Movie, in which Tommy's baby brother Dil is born, he was soon added as a character on the show. As a four month old baby, Dil is not able to communicate with anyone. Later in , after Rugrats in Paris: The Movie was released, Kimi was added as a character. She is Chuckie's sister. Other spinoff plans Besides All Grown Up! there were plans for two other spinoffs that never made it to air: * The Carmichaels was planned to see Susie move away from California to Atlanta (Georgia), where she apparently has relatives. There were plans to make The Carmichaels into a series as early as the 1999-2000 TV season, but plans involving the toddler Rugrats had put the new series' plans on ice. Subsequently, when plans for All Grown Up! and Angelica and Susie's School Daze (below) came up, concerns for continuity prompted this idea to be shelved for good. The "Kwanzaa" ep (2001) serves as the show's pilot. * Tommy and Chuckie's The Adventures of William Shakespeare was planned to be about the titular characters going to high-school. 25 stories about William Shakespeare and his camels had originally been ordered, and slated to premiere late 2002, and was also intended to feature new looks for the twenty-nine characters from Rugrats. The most recent official word on this series was in this press release for All Grown Up!, when it was announced that it was reduced to just 4 episodes. There were also complications involving the planned new animation designs for the characters. The "Adventures Of William Shakespeare" ep (made for 2002, aired 2004) serves as the show's pilot, and used the regular Rugrats look (as did the other episodes involving the Shakespearers that actually aired before that ep in the US). Would-be news: Klasky Csupo has finally completed the 14 episodes of the series http://www.cooltoons2.com/newsletter/2005/newsletter161/. However, the Rugrats as babies will live on in direct-to-DVD feature animation series Rugrats: Tales From The Crib. Parody The Rugrats intro was parodied in an episode of Animaniacs. Also in The Fairly OddParents Channel Chasers it was known as Carpet Critters Books Here's a few: # God's Promise # Right, Right Now! # Chuckie's New Telephono # Tommy Can't Stack Eggs # Phil and Lil Build Ducks # Angelica's Computer Desk # Go East or West # Get Along, Little Doggies! # The Carnival of Complaning # The Scales of Bullies! # The Ultimate Story Countdown # Phil and Lil's Polka Dance # Save the Tree! # Save the Octopus! # Rugrats Join the Circus # Patients! # Meet Chuckie Finster # Chuckie's New Mommy # Kimi and the Great Sheep # Underwear! (TV Adpation) # Moving Away (TV Adpation) Trivia *Rugrats was the most popular show on Nickelodeon before SpongeBob SquarePants. * The Rugrats received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a ceremony on 28 June 2001. It was placed at 6600 W. Hollywood Bl., near Cherokee Ave. outside a toy and costume shop.(Klasky-Csupo press release) * The Rugrats had a daily comic strip that ran from 1998 to 2003. * The Pickles are a mixed Jewish-Christian family. Many fans say the Pickles are somewhat based on Arlene Klasky's real family (Example: In the show, she is from southern California and in real life she is Jewish and married to a Christian). There are two episodes that reflect the Pickles' Jewish heritage, one episode deals with the Passover holiday and the other with Chanukah (in addition to episodes about Christmas, Easter, etc.). These episodes have been praised by Jewish groups and are rerun every year on Nickelodeon at the appropriate holiday times and can also be purchased on VHS or DVD. DVD List of Rugrats DVD The complete first & second seasons are available on Amazon for Burn on Demand. See also * All Grown Up! External links * Nickelodeon's Rugrats site * Klasky-Csupo's Rugrats area on cooltoons.com (Studio site) * Rugrats daily comic strip at Creators Syndicate * Rugrats at the Big Cartoon DataBase * Unofficial Rugrats homepage by Steve *